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In the field of high resolution imaging, laser scanning microscopes have been developed to provide high resolution (nearly diffraction-limited) to achieve very fine resolution pictures over a small field of view (typically a few hundred micrometers at a time) through a variety of modalities such as fluorescence mode imaging, differential interference contrast, or phase-contrast imaging. The use of galvanometer scanning mirrors allows such systems to reposition rapidly and draw nearly arbitrary patterns, however generally the use of such galvanometers with high numerical aperture (NA) microscope objectives results in small field sizes, because the field size is the effective focal length times the tangent of the maximum full field angle allowed by the microscope objective.
Traditionally, optical structures with refracting power, such as lenses, are made of a material where the refractive index (RI) and curvature of the surfaces determine the amount of refracting power [9]. For example, in ophthalmic applications, different curvatures and higher order shapes can be used to generate desired prescriptions in devices such as eyeglasses, contact lenses, and intraocular lenses, with materials such as glasses and plastics with different index of refraction.